TomTom GPS Issues/ General GPS question

[Zack1978]

Hi everyone,
I have a TomTom XL 330S gps unit and I am having some issues with it losing signal, and being totally off track when it does have signal. The issues happen at random, and not all the time.
So I call TomTom today to complain because the unit is less than one year old, and they tell me that it is now an issue with all GPS units, no matter the brand. The guy claims that when they made the TV switch from analog to digital it caused major issues with the GPS signals, and they are all working on a fix. Was the guy giving me a total BS story? Has the above situation to anyone else?

Thanks,
Zack

 

[fsusteve]

I'm gonna call bs, we just used skillet's GPS all over the Keys, it was dead on. Generally when they get flaky it's a software issue.

 

[carboncycles]

Well if the tech was talking about the next gen satellite then he might have been right on.

GeoCarta Problems Detected in New L5 GPS Signal

However, it is interesting that my less than 6 month old Garmin just took a dump acquiring satellites, and I had to send it back to the mother ship.

 

[Jomama]

fwiw I googled it and there are no reports related to the DTV transition.
First thing, I would try reinstalling the firmware.

GeoCarta Problems Detected in New L5 GPS Signal


However, it is interesting that my less than 6 month old Garmin just took a dump acquiring satellites, and I had to send it back to the mother ship.

They had a firmware issue recently too.
Garmin 7x5 series devices bricked by firmware update?

 

[agomez]

buy the dodge

 

[Mr.Bryan]

I beleive it. I used my gps yesterday, the first time since the digial switch and it was having a bunch of issues I've never had before. It took a while to locate me, then it wasn't pin-pointing where I was, and I was on I-90 in Chicago. I've got a Garmin vista HCx, the high sensitivity model.

 

[Zack1978]

They had me "reset" the unit, and told me that it should cure it for a while, if it does it again simply reset it again. He claimed that they don't yet know when the fix will happen


Zack

 

[IdahoDoug]

Interesting. I got a Garmin 260 for Father's Day and it's been kinda flaky from time to time since I got it. Other days it works fine.

Using a GPS in the Keys is about the most ideal conditions you can get reception-wise. We never have trouble with our older Garmin on the boat. Maybe this weekend we will though.....

DougM

 

[retrofive]

No reboot, old batteries, Garmin 60CSx no issues.

 

[RockDoc]

more about Tom Tom issues

 

[spdwaver]

My Tom Tom has not had one single issue, and I have had it ~7 months.

 

[carboncycles]

Garmin has issued a firmware update as well as a acknowledged problem with the 7x5 series. I got the email notice last night, and of course, after I had already mailed the unit in earlier that day..doh.

 

[lockd80]

My tom tom has been having trouble locking in on satilites, I am in WA mabey the northern lats are more effected.

 

[Zack1978]

My tom tom has been having trouble locking in on satilites, I am in WA mabey the northern lats are more effected.

Did you call TomTom about your issues? If so did they tell you the same thing that they told me?

Zack

 

[Jomama]

I used my Garmin Nuvi 550 last week for a 300 mile trip and it worked fine so I highly doubt its a Sat/Signal side problem, or that the Tom Tom customer disservice guy knew what he was talking about regarding the DTV transition. You don't get much more on the edge of usability for these things than Alaska (no Sats above or north of us, all constellations along the southern horizon)